The World Latin Dance Cup is one of the largest Latin dance competitions in the world, and it’s happening this week in Miami. Every year the competition attracts over 800 competitors from 40 countries, including many from right here in SF Bay Area. Salsa By The Bay will be providing live coverage of the event from Miami– check this page to find out the latest competition results and updates from the 2014 World Latin Dance Cup.

World Latin Dance Cup 2014 Results

The competition this year was the largest yet, with hundreds of competitors from around the world vying for the title of World Champion. The toughest divisions this year, as usual, were the Salsa On 2 and Salsa Cabaret divisions. The Mens Soloist division was also stacked this year, with 24 competitors in the division.

At the end of the day though, the competition saw some familiar faces taking home the top prizes. The “Dream Team” of salsa cleaned up the top spots in the couples divisions, with Rafael & Carine winning Salsa On 1, David & Paulina winning Salsa On 2, and Ricardo & Karen winning the Salsa Cabaret divisions.

Rafael & Carine were the clear winners of their division, easily winning the On 1 division for the second year in a row. David & Paulina went into the Finals ranked 2nd, but were able to pull out a win with some changes to their routine for the Finals, becoming the first couple in World Salsa history to win their division 4 years in a row. Ricardo & Karen blew away their competition with an incredible routine that had the entire room on their feet.

The Bay Area had a strong showing in the Finals, with many competitors making it to the final night of the competition. In the Pro Salsa Teams division, reigning champions Salsamania Dance Company were unseated by Omambo Dance Project from LA. In the Amateur Salsa Teams division, Montuno & Salsamania battled it out, with Montuno pulling an upset an coming out on top in the final rounds. In the Pro-Am division, John Narvaez & Erika Lachenmeier from the Bay Area won the very competitive division.

In the amateur divisions, a number of Bay Area dancers had strong showings. In the Amateur Solo Male division, Vmal Pradeep, winner of the Beat’s footwork competition, took the top spot. In the Soloist Over 50 division, Albert Harnois won first place. In the Amateur Soloist Female category, Angelica Medina won silver in the division. There were also competitors from the Bay Area in the Amateur Bachata Teams, Bachata Couples, Amateur Salsa On2, and Over 75 categories.

The level of competition was definitely the highest it’s ever been, and it will be exciting to see how the competition continues to evolve over the coming years. The full competition results are below:

Live Stream

The Semi-Final (Thursday & Friday) and Final (Saturday) rounds of the competition will be streamed live via UStream. The two broadcasts will be at 10am PST & 4pm PST. If you miss the World Latin Dance Cup live stream, you can still watch the recorded footage of the previous round of the competition via the video link above.

Background

The World Latin Dance Cup is one of the largest competitions in the world for salsa and other Latin dances. The competition was started in 2005 by salsa promoter Albert Torres under the name “World Salsa Championships”. In 2010, the competition was re-branded as the World Latin Dance Cup, and expanded to include other dances besides salsa, including bachata, cumbia, and cha cha cha. This year the competition will also feature kizomba and merrengue.

The Bay Area has a long history of participating in the World Latin Dance Cup. The Salsa Teams division at the first World Salsa Championships was won by Pretty Boys & Girls from San Jose. Luis Aguilar, the director of the Couture Dance Alliance in San Francisco, is a 2-time winner of the World Salsa Championships and World Latin Dance Cup in the On2 division. Salsamania Dance Company, based in Oakland, are the current reigning champions of the Salsa Teams division, and their director John Narvaez and Andrew Cervantes are 3-time champions of the Same Gender division.

This year there are dozens of competitors who will be representing the Bay Area at the 5th Annual World Latin Dance Cup in both the amateur and professional divisions. Stay tuned to see how the competitors fare in this year’s competition!

Competition Results

Day 1 Results:

Day 1 of the competition resulted in many of the competitors automatically qualifying for the semi-finals due to the small number of competitors in many divisions. All of the divisions originally scheduled for the Thursday afternoon competition automatically passed to the semis. That included amateur soloists, cha cha, over 75, and amateur bachata couples, as well as rueda, merengue, and kizomba.

The evening competition was also mostly a formality for most divisions, with many of the divisions having fewer than 5 competitors. The two exceptions were the Pro Am Couples and Soloist Male categories, which both had close to 20 competitors each. Both divisions will face eliminations, with the results to be announced Wednesday night.

Day 2 Results:

The results for the day 1 & day 2 of the competition have been announced. Here are the scoresheets for the qualifiers from Tuesday & Wednesday:

Day 3 & 4 Results:

The results for day 3 & day 4 have been announced. The winners from each division will make it into the finals on Saturday.

Schedule

The World Latin Dance Cup takes place over the course of a week, from Tuesday, December 9th to Saturday, December 13th 2014. The first two days of the competition are Qualifiers. Competitors who have not already qualified for the WLDC will compete for a chance to move onto the semi-finals, with amateurs competing on Tuesday and professionals on Wednesday.

The next two days of the competition are the Semi-Finals. Dancers who have already qualified at other events and those who make it through the Qualifiers will compete. Amateurs compete Thursday, and professionals on Friday.

Finally, Saturday is the Finals where the top 5 competitors from each division will compete for the title of World Latin Dance Cup champion.

The full schedule is below. All times are in Pacific Standard Time (PST):

Tuesday, December 9th, 2014 – 1st Day of Qualifiers (Amateurs)

10am – 1pm – First round of qualifiers

Casino Rueda

Merengue

Zouk

Kizomba

Amateur Soloist Female

Solo Men Over 50

Amateur Soloist Male

Solo Ladies Over 50

Cha Cha Couple

Amateur Bachata Couple

4pm – 7pm – Second round of qualifiers

Salsa Ladies Couples

Amateur Bachata Team

Pro Am Couples

Amateur Salsa Team

Soloist Male

Soloist Female

Salsa Men Couples

Wednesday, December 10th, 2014 – 2nd Day of Qualifiers (Pros)

10am – 1pm – First round of qualifiers

Children Soloist Girls

Junior Soloist Boys

Junior Soloist Girls

Amateur Couples On1

Amateur Couples On2

Children Couples

Junior Couples

Children/Junior Teams

Bachata Couple

Children Soloist Boys

4pm – 7pm – Second round of qualifiers

Bachata Team

Salsa On 1

Bachata Cabaret Team

Salsa On 2

Salsa Ladies Team

Salsa Team

Salsa Cabaret Couple

Salsa Mens Team

Salsa Cabaret Team

Bachata Cabaret Couples

8pm – Announcement of results

Thursday, December 11th, 2014 – Semi-Finals (Amateurs)

10am – 1pm – First round of semi-finals

Casino Rueda

Merengue

Zouk

Kizomba

Amateur Soloist Female

Solo Men Over 50

Amateur Soloist Male

Solo Ladies Over 50

Cha Cha Couple

Amateur Bachata Couple

4pm – 7pm – Second round of semi-finals

Salsa Ladies Couples

Amateur Bachata Team

Pro Am Couples

Amateur Salsa Team

Soloist Male

Soloist Female

Salsa Men Couples

Friday, December 12th, 2014 – Semi-Finals (Pros)

10am – 1pm – First round of semi-finals

Children Soloist Girls

Junior Soloist Boys

Junior Soloist Girls

Amateur Couples On1

Amateur Couples On2

Children Couples

Junior Couples

Children/Junior Teams

Bachata Couple

Children Soloist Boys

4pm – 7pm – Second round of semi-finals

Bachata Team

Salsa On 1

Bachata Cabaret Team

Salsa On 2

Salsa Ladies Team

Salsa Team

Salsa Cabaret Couple

Salsa Mens Team

Salsa Cabaret Team

Bachata Cabaret Couples

9pm – Announcement of results

Saturday, December 13th, 2014 – Finals

10am – 1pm – First round of finals

Casino Rueda

Merengue

Zouk

Kizomba

Amateur Soloist Female

Solo Men Over 50

Cha Cha Couple

Over 75

Amateur Bachata Couple

Amateur Couple On 1

Children Soloist Girls

Junior Soloist Boys

Children Couples

Junior Couples

Amateur Couple On 2

Children/Junior Team

Children Soloist Boys

Junior Soloist Girls

4pm – 7pm – Second round of finals

Bachata Couple

Amateur Bachata Team

Pro Am Couples

Amateur Salsa Team

Salsa Ladies Couples

Soloist Male

Soloist Female

Salsa Men Couples

Bachata Team

Salsa On 1

Bachata Cabaret Team

Salsa On 2

Salsa Ladies Team

Salsa Team

Salsa Cabaret Couple

Salsa Mens Team

Salsa Cabaret Team

Bachata Cabaret Couples

9pm – Announcement of results

This schedule is subject to change. Schedule will be updated as more info is available.